Women&#39;s rain hood



Aug. 12, 1969 R. c. ERBB wousn's mun Boob Filed Aug. 9, 1966- ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,460,163 WOMENS RAIN HOOD Ruth C. Erb'o, 2 Sutton Place 5., New York, N.Y. 10022 Filed Aug. 9, 1966, Ser. No. 571,203 Int. Cl. A421) ]/06, 7/00 US. Cl. 2-204 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DESCLOSURE The protection of womens hair in rainy Weather particularly with the up-swept and boufiant type hairdos and hairdos built up with artificial hair pieces, and also the protection of various smaller type hats and uniform headgear worn by women present a substantial problem. Conventional rain hats are rarely large enough for the purpose, and if large enough do not provide means for tightly en gaging the face and neck in thoroughly bad weather. They are difi'icult to adjust and tend to slip about with movements of the wearer or exposure to the wind. While waterproof scarves can be used to provide greater flexibility in adapting to fit over different hairdos and/or headgear, such scarves are generally difiicult or uncomfortable to secure effectively at the neck, and with such scarves it is particularly difiicult to provide effectve protection from the rain without applying such pressure as to substantially up-set the hairdo.

An object of the present invention is to provide a rain hat or hood in which the head enveloping portion is large enough to receve hairdos or combinations of hairdo and uniform cap or hat which extend substantially above the head while at the same time closely engaging the rear and sides of the neck, and being adjustably engageable with the face of the wearer.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rain hat or hood which is decorative in appearance, going nicely with evening wear or special clothes, and which oifers protection without sacrificing neatness and without damaging hairdos under varied adverse weather conditions.

A further object is to provide a rain hat or hood which can be quickly adjusted in wind and rain, which stays in place regardless of movement, wind, and rain, and which dries quickly after exposure to rain' A still further object of the invention is to provide a rain hat or hood of the type described which can be inexpensively produced from two pieces of material and which can be compactly folded for easy storage in a womans handbag or coat pocket.

These and other objects of the invention will be more readily understood from a consideration of the following description taken together with the accompanying drawing in which a preferred adaptation of the invention is illustrated with the various parts thereof identified by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a rain hat or hood in accordance with the present invention with part of the structure broken away to better view inner details thereof.

FIGURE 2 is a superimposed view of the fabric and plastic blanks from which the device is made shown in the fiat and prior to any assembly operations.

3,460,163 Patented Aug. 12, 1969 FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary view of the plastic blank showing a first assembly step.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary and shortened view of the pre-assernbled plastic blank and associated fabric blank in a further stage of assemblage, and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary view of the complete assemblage illustrating the edge finishing thereof.

As illustrated in the drawing, the rain hat or hood 10 comprises a liner 11 of plastic sheet material fashioned from a single blank as indicated in FIGURE 2 and an outer cover 12 of suitable water-resistant fabric fashioned from a single blank as indicated in FIGURE 2, and including generally symmetrical extensions 13, 13' which in the assembled hat form folded or duel layer tie ends for the hat adapted to be drawn together by the wearer either under the chin or, after passing under the chin, tied at the side or back of the neck. The plastic material of the liner 11 should be thin enough to permit easy folding and manipulation and at the same time heavy enough to provide reasonable strength and resistance to damage in normal handling. The plastic can be colored if desired, or a neutral clear or colorless plastic can be employed. A type of plastic which has been found particularly suitable is 4 guage polyethylene sheeting.

The fabric of the outer cover 12 should be a lightweight, water-resistant fabric such as nonshrink nylon which will permit quick drying, and can be astraight weave or any desired ornamental net or lace weave or the like. The cover 12 also permits unlimited variation in color, print patterns, and the like to provide a variety of ornamental effects in the hat.

The structural details are best understood from a considerable of the blanks and the contours thereof, and the steps taken in assembling the blanks to form the finished article. The illustration in FIGURE 2 of the drawing has been drawn approximately to scale and should be visualized dimensionally as comprising a plastic liner blank 11 having a maximum width of approximately 18 inches and maximum length of approximately 22 inches. The fabric cover blank 12.also has a maximum width of approximately 18 inches and a maximum length including the tie end forming portions 13, 13 of approximately 52 inches. This length can be varied substantially being increased somewhat if the intended use is to involve primarily a tying of the ends 13, 13 at the side or back of the neck. It will be noted that the blank 11 has large side notches 14, 14' in the side edges and spaced somewhat closer to the front edge 15 than the rear edge 16 of the blank. These notches extend approximately 5 inches into the body of the blank at each side thereof, leaving an intermediate distance between the notches of approximately 12 inches, and it will be noted that the front and rear edges 15 and 16 of the blank 11 and the corresponding edges of the blank 12 have central substantially straight portions which are also approximately 12 inches in length.

Beyond these straight portions it will be noted that the blank 11 at the extremities 15a of the front edge 15 assumes a slightly greater curvature than the corresponding edge of the symmetrical blank 12, whereas the extremities 16a of the rear edge 16 assume a slightly less curvature than the corresponding edge of the blank 12. These slight differences in curvature at the ends of the front and rear edges 15 and 16 of the blank 11 coupled with the forward arrangement of the notches 14, 14 leaves very short side edges 17, 17 on the blank 11 adjacent the front edge 15, and substantially longer side edges 18, 18' adjacent the rear edge 16. The side edges 17, 17 are spaced apart approximately 20 /2 inches, i.e. 1 /2 inches less than the spacing of the side edges 18, 18'. These longer side edges 18, 18 will as hereinafter described constitute the jowl portions of the front edge of the assembled hat.

As a first step in assembling the device the blank 11 is folded along its narrowest portion between the notches 14, 14' and the longer rear edge suitably buckled as indicated in FIGURE 3 to dispose the short side edge 17 (17') in alignment with and as an extension of the side edge 18 (18') so that there is a tapered overlap of the front portion of the blank 11 with respect to the rear portion thereof as indicated at 19 in FIGURE 3 of the drawing; and while supported in this position the front and rear portions of the blank 11 are joined by lines of stitching 20, 20'. With the front portion of the blank 11 thus shorter than the rear portion thereof, the assemblage cannot be flattened except by making a fold in the rear portion of the blank 11 somewhat beyond the line of stitching 20 as indicated in FIGURE 4 f the drawing.

The cover blank 12 is then folded around the preassembled liner blank 11 as indicated in FIG. 4 of the drawing and positioned with respect thereto by pinning the blanks 11 and 12 together at the center of the front portions thereof as seen at 21, and adjacent the stitchings 20, 20' as indicated at 22. The rear portion of the blank 12 is pinned to the rear portion of the blank 11 at a center point 23 and at point 23' adjacent the jowl forming portions 18, 18'. At this stage of assembly the blanks assume substantially the position shown in full lines in FIG. 4. Further aligning and pinning of the front portion of the blank 12 to the jowl forming portions 18, 18 (to provide the assembled relationship clearly shown in FIG. of the drawing) will cause the fold of the tie end 13 to assume substantially the position, in the flat, as indicated in the dotted lines at 13a in FIG. 4 of the drawing.

In pinning together the blanks as above described there is a slight local front to rear displacement of the fabric cover 12 to bring the corresponding edge portions thereof in alignment with the slightly differently curved edges a and 16a of the blank 11. This detail can not be effectively shown in the drawing, but it is a factor contributing to the desired hang of the tie ends 13, 13' when the completed hat is on the head of a wearer.

In cutting out the blank 11 a plurality of accurately positioned slits or notches, a, b, c, d, and a, b, c, d are provided along the rear edge 16 thereof as a guide to pleating and shortening the rear edge of the assemblage to a length of approximately 1 0 inches. It will be apparent that the same amount of shortening can be effected with a small number of large pleats or a larger number of small pleats, and merely for purposes of illustration the arrangements of said notches facilitate the forming of four pleats. To this end the notches are spaced apart by three inches in all instances, except for spaces b, c and b, c which are one inch. In other words, the notches a, a are each 1 /2 inches from the center of the edge 16, and the other notches are symmetrically spaced outwardy from the center. The superimposed layers of the blanks 11, 12 are then folded to align notch a with notch b, and pinned in this position to form pleat a, b as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 5, and again folded to superimpose notch c with notch a to form pleat c, d, the same step being repeated to form pleats a, b and c, d.

The blanks are now completely oriented with respect to each other, and as a final step the edges are joined and trimmed by a conventional line of edge stitching 24 along the pleated rear edge 16, and along front edge 15 and jowl portions 18, 18' of the assemblage. Beyond the juncture 25, 25 between the rear pleated edge 16 and jowl portion 18 or 18' the two layers of the extensions 13, 13' are stitched together as indicated at 26, 26 for a distance of about inch, and thereafter the edge stitching is continued as seen at 27, 27' around the single layer periphery of the extensions 13, 13'.

In the assemblage of the two blanks as above described it will be apparent that somewhat more linear edge of the blank 12 has been joined to the front portion 15 and jowl portions 18, 18' than has been joined to the rear portion 16 of the liner assemblage 11. It will be noted, however, that the normal hang of the extensions 13, 13' disposes the fold 28, 28 forwardly of the wearer and slightly shorter portion 29, 29' thereof toward the wearer. Furthermore, the slight difference in length of the two plys of the extensions 13, 13' is partly compensated for by the loose fold of the fabric below the joined portions 26, 26' thereof.

As seen in FIGURE 1 of the drawing the line of stitching 20, 20' extending from the juncture between the jowl portions 18, 18 and the front edge 15, which on the wearer would be spaced apart by about six inches are divergently disposed and at their inner ends are spaced apart by about 12 inches (the spacing between the notches 14, 14 as previously described). It is a combination of this widening of the upper or crown portion of the hat 10 amplified by the tucks or pleats at the rear portion thereof which provides the ample space for accommodating high hairdos, hats, uniform caps and the like. Furthermore, the particular manner of aligning and stitching the edges of the folded blank 11 as previously described and illustrated in FIGURE 3 appears to contribute in a special way to attainment of a graceful, face enveloping contour of the front edge 15 as the cap is worn.

It will also be apparent that as the extensions 13, 13' are drawn under the chin and tied the front folds 28, 28 thereof provide an engagement with the head forwardly of the jowl portions 18, 18' permitting various desired amounts of the front edge 15 to be tucked in and supported in conforming the hat to the face for maximum protection from the weather.

Rain hats or hoods formed from blanks having the dimensions herein described have been found to fit so many different hairdos and hat and hairdo combinations that commercial production of the rain hat or hood in a single size appears to be entirely practical. It will be apparent, however, that the structural principles can be adapted to rain hats for even more voluminous hairdos by slightly increasing the width (front to rear) of the blanks 11, 12. Likewise, if these dimensions are slightly reduced, the rain hat could be made to more closely conform to the head of a wearer having a lower hairdo and not desiring to, at the same time, wear a hat or uniform cap.

I claim:

1. A womens rain hood comprising a waterproof waterresistant fabric cover and a waterproof head-enveloping liner peripherally secured thereto, said cover having a wide central portion and elongated tie ends of smaller width than said central portion extending in opposite directions from said central portion and said liner, said liner being fashioned from a blank having essentially parallel straight front and rear edges terminating in slightly inwardly curved ends, said edges of said blank being cut out in the form of deep aligned notches of approximately right angle contour spaced closer to the forward edge thereof providing short side edges adjacent said forward edge and substantially longer side edges adjacent said rear edge, and the spacing between said short side edges being slightly less than the spacing between said longer side edges, the right angle corners of said side notches being spaced apart a distance approximately equivalent to the length of said straight front and rear edges of said blank, edges of said notches being stitched together in offset relation disposing a short side edge of the blank in alignment with and as an extension of the corresponding long side edge thereof, and outside the line of stitching, whereby said long side edge becomes a jowl portion continuous with said front edge, means joining the material of said liner and cover along said rear edge with a number of pleats therein, thereby shortening the rear edge of the hood to dispose said jowl portions substantially at the angle of the jaw bone of the wearer, and said pleats and stitched notches cooperating to provide a fullness in the crown of said hood adapted to receive headgear and hairdos extending substantially above the head of the wearer.

2. A womens rain hood as defined in claim 1, wherein means joining the material of said liner and cover at the 5 front of the hood extends throughout the length of the front edge and jowl portions of the liner, whereby said tie ends, when the hood is on a wearer, hang forwardly of said jowl portions.

3. A womens rain hood as defined in claim 2, wherein the means joining the liner and fabric cover comprises a line of edge stitching, and said edge stitching also joining together edges of said tie ends adjacent said jowl portions and thereafter continuing around the single layer periphery of said tie ends.

4. A womens rain hood as defined in claim 1, wherein the fabric cover is fashioned from a symmetrical blank of material having a central portion with straight front and rear edges corresponding to the front and rear edges of said liner blank and continuing through smoothly curved contours to narrower end portions providing said tie ends for the hood, said curved contours providing a curvature in said cover blank at extremities of the central straight portions thereof which is slightly greater than that of the inwardly curved ends of the rear edge of said liner blank and slightly less than that of the inwardly curved ends of the front edge of said liner blank, and said edges of the liner and cover being brought into alignment in the assembly thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,201,803 8/1965 Gettinger 2207 PATRICK -D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner G. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner 

